A is for Appreciate #atozchallenge

View of Granada from La Alhambra Spain

I can not believe that it is April first!   Today begins the Blogging from A-Z challenge.  I have read many posts about how people attack this project.  Some do a theme for the month while others pre-write their posts in advance having thought ideas out well ahead of time.  Myself, I need a deadline, always have and this is no exception.  Last year when I completed my 100 happy days, I did not pre-plan, I just wrote each morning over my coffee before getting the kids up.  I am hoping to attack this much the same way.

We returned in the wee hours of Thursday morning from Spain, and were welcomed back to greening grass and thunderstorms that included hail!  The farm greeted us with the first wood violets beginning to bloom, and all of the animals happy to be outside.  Today we headed back to work and then I spent some time this afternoon tidying up and smudging the house, a seasonal ritual of mine that I missed out on as we were airborne the first day of spring.   Now as I collapse here this afternoon I am reflecting on the last couple of weeks with my jet lag laden brain.   I feel a deep sense of appreciation not only in how fortunate we were to be able to take this epic trip, but also that we so fully immersed ourselves in the adventure.  We are seasoned travelers but most of our travel with the kids has been visiting family around the country.  So going on a trip like this was a completely new experience and we learned a lot about likes and dislikes and how each one of us approaches learning and enjoying another culture in a different way.

I gaze out at our property and am full of appreciation for the lifestyle that we have chosen here.  Our journey toward the simpler things also made me glow with appreciation for what we observed in rural southern Spain making it a beautifully rich experience all around.


[@ajcray] from Tilting at Windmills